Theories are evil things, but when
theory and fact are at variance, give me fact. Theoretically Free Trade
should--I admit it--make us the most prosperous nation in the world. As
a matter of fact, never since this country commenced to make history has
our commercial supremacy been in so rotten and insecure a position.
There isn't a flourishing industry in the country, save those which
provide the munitions of war, and their prosperity is a spasmodic, and I
might almost add, an undesirable thing. Now, I am dealing with facts
to-night, not theories, and I am going to quote certain unassailable
truths, and I am going to give you the immediate causes for them. The
furniture and joinery trade of England is bad. There are thousands of
good hands out of employment. They are out of work because the
manufacturer has few or no orders. I want the immediate cause for that,
and I go to the manufacturer. I ask him why he has no orders. He tells
me, because every steamer from America is bringing huge consignments of
ready-made office and general furniture, at such prices or such quality
that the English shopkeepers prefer to stock them.
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